1960 to 1968, 249 episodes
Genre: TV, Comedy
TMDB Rating: 8.4
Clean Rating: 5
Watched It On: iTunes and DVD
Watching the entire series again, beginning April 27, 2023 following a visit to Mt. Airy. Visited Mt. Airy again Jan 2024 and thus we watched a couple of episodes that month in Venice, FL. An ongoing pleasure.
My Comments: The series ran from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968. 249 half-hour episodes across eight seasons. 159 episodes in black & white and 90 in color. The producer of The Danny Thomas Show, Sheldon Leonard, and Danny, asked writer Arthur Stander (who’d contributed several of the “Danny Thomas” scripts) to create a pilot show for Griffith. The pilot was filmed and aired. This then gave birth to Andy’s own show. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios and other nearby locations in California.
The fictitious town of Mayberry was based largely upon Griffith’s home town of Mt. Airy (Surry County), North Carolina, with some inspiration from nearby Pilot Mountain (also in Surry County), plus a good dose of imagination. A wonderful place to visit, Mt. Airy hosts The Andy Griffith Museum and many recreations of the show’s locations and some locations that really exist (such as Snappy Lunch diner). The diner is mentioned in episode 7, which aired November 14, 1960, – “Andy the Matchmaker”). You can read about the California studio set and actual town here.
There’s something very near and dear to our hearts about Mayberry and its gentle, long-suffering, sheriff. Mayberry is where we all want to live. A place of community, normalcy, pleasantness, and bygone simplicity. This is an excellent TV series to enjoy, laugh along with, and relax with.
Some of our own “Mayberry” moments below. Photos © Copyright Paul Singer.
Note: Gallery photos by Paul Singer. Do not download or use without permission.
Trivia: to come …
I give The Andy Griffith show 4.5 stars for watching pleasure and a perfect Clean5 morality rating.
